The biggest repatriation operation in Swiss history

Since becoming director of the Consular Directorate of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) around two years ago, I have already overseen numerous challenging cases in which we were able to assist Swiss nationals in difficulty abroad. Nevertheless, the crisis management measures that we initiated in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic were on a scale that even the FDFA would scarcely have imagined not so long ago. But how exactly did we assist those who needed our help? And what could the ‘new normal’ possibly look like after the hoped-for end of the pandemic?

How it started

Once the Federal Council declared an ‘extraordinary situation’ on 16 March 2020 in light of the rapid spread of COVID-19, the FDFA focused its attention on crisis management at all levels. However, the coronavirus had already been preoccupying the FDFA and Swiss representations in China on a daily basis for some time. From the end of 2019, an increasing number of inquiries came in from worried citizens via the FDFA helpline. The pandemic then started to overshadow everything else from the beginning of March 2020, forcing us into overdrive.

Into the public consciousness

The ensuing crisis saw a change in public attitude towards the citizen-oriented services that have traditionally been a key component of Swiss foreign policy. The media and wider public normally take little notice of these services, but things were much different this time. On the one hand, the provision of assistance to our fellow compatriots has long been a widely debated and, at times, emotive issue. On the other, many thousands of Swiss nationals abroad finally gained direct first-hand experience of what ‘citizen-oriented services’ mean in the context of Swiss foreign policy. People also discovered that the FDFA would not have been able to offer its services in many instances had it not been for its wide global network of representations abroad. It was this broad network that allowed the FDFA to tailor its response to local conditions and provide uncomplicated and effective assistance without ignoring the quintessentially Swiss virtue of personal responsibility.

Stranded abroad

The action taken by the FDFA during the coronavirus crisis benefited two different contingents of Swiss nationals. Firstly, people who had travelled abroad and wanted to return to Switzerland needed our support. But then we also had Swiss living abroad who had got into difficulty and were no longer able to do anything about it.

Therefore, we initially wanted to help stranded tourists return home. At the beginning of the crisis, it was more or less still possible for people to return to Switzerland independently on commercial flights. Swiss representations were on hand to inform and assist tourists where necessary.